Coronavirus

Online rehearsal platforms: SonoBus

Online platforms are websites or software that allow musicians to meet up in a virtual music room to play together using their internet connection. SonoBus uses specialist techniques to minimise 'latency' which is the delay heard on online video conference platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc).

Download SonoBus

Versions for Mac, Windows and Linux can be found on the official website: www.sonobus.net alongside information about the Apple and Android apps which are currently available as test platforms.

Introduction to online rehearsal platforms

An introduction to online platforms for virtual music rehearsals, including SonoBus, JamKazam and Jamulus

What is a rehearsal platform?

These are websites or software that allow musicians to meet up in a virtual music room to play together using their internet connection. All of the platforms listed in this resource use specialist techniques to minimise 'latency' which is the delay heard on online video conference platforms (Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc), making it impossible to keep in time when playing music.

Zoom: Troubleshooting audio issues

Many leisure-time music groups are now using Zoom for their rehearsals, performances and other activities, and are finding that some of their members are having issues with the audio – either they can’t hear, or they can’t be heard, or both!

These issues are down to a mixture of reasons. Zoom works by picking up sounds at certain frequencies, and cuts out when the frequencies go outside of these limits. As we all continue to work and socialise even more online, our internet connections and devices struggle with the demands being placed on them. 

Case study: Online rehearsals from scratch - St Helens Ladies’ Choir

Musical director of St Helens Ladies’ Choir, Patricia Lewis, describes her journey from having very little technological knowledge to running her choral group on Zoom during the pandemic.

Background

After early retirement from running a busy school music department and working with operatic societies, in 2011 I started a daytime weekly ladies’ choir in St Helens where I live. Many of our members do not read music and were technically inexperienced. From within the big choir we have a smaller choral group which also performs separately.

Covid resources: Overview

Although governments' Covid measures are no longer in place, the virus is still prevalent in the UK and it may take some time until things are completely back to normal. So we've updated our Covid resources and added new ones to help you, as we learn to live with Covid

To find out what living with Covid means for your group, guidance on what measures you could take to minimise the spread of Covid, and to access risk assessment templates, have a look at our new resources for performances and rehearsals.

Case study: What is it like to have a new conductor during lockdown?

Alison Martin, chair of Crieff Choral Group, outlines how choir members got to grips with a new conductor during the first Covid lockdown. 

Background

Last year, all choir members attended our penultimate pre-lockdown rehearsal for our spring concert scheduled for 29 March 2020. It was going to be our last performance with our retiring conductor of 18 years, Peter Rutterford, and retiring chairman, John Drummond, who had served on the committee for 20 years. 

Webinar recording: Covid-19: what does the medical evidence mean for your group?

In this recording of our guest speaker webinar (original event 22 January 2021) Professor Jackie Cassell, a public health specialist from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, dicusses what the medical evidence around Covid-19 means for music groups.  

Jackie, also an amateur violinist and choir singer, has a particular interest in and understanding of what the Covid-19 pandemic means for leisure-time music activity and talks about 'the science' in an accessible way.

Viewing a virtual performance

Usually in advance of the concert date you will receive a hyperlink to a webpage you'll visit to view the performance. Do check that you have this and click the link to confirm that it works ahead of the concert. You'll most likely be guided to a page indicating that you're in the correct place and to return on the date / time that the performance is scheduled for.

Webinar: Navigating government guidance for amateur music groups

On 24 October, the Association of British Choral Directors, the ISM and Making Music joined forces to lead a panel session exclusively for their members which covers the guidance for the performing arts, worship, community venues and youth across the four nations.